In recent years, complex systems have been developed for performing various material-handling functions. For example, a number of different "palletizing" systems have been developed for handling bundles or articles and forming them into stacks on pallets. In particular, in the box-folding industry, corrugated board and boxes are folded into a flat configuration and then stacked to form bundles, which may be either loose or tied. The bundles are then arranged into layers in any desired pattern and then the layers are stacked on a pallet for shipment.
Typically, the bundles are supplied by a folding or stitching machine and are manually placed on the palletizing apparatus. The palletizing apparatus may include a loading station where material handlers arrange the bundles into layers to form stacks. Once the stack is formed, it is discharged to another station where it may be readied for shipment.
One problem which has developed with such systems is coordinating the various functions to be performed so that the bundles to be formed into stacks pass through the material-handling system at the most efficient speed, while at the same time avoiding jam-ups or slow-downs in the system. For example, if the bundles are supplied too slowly to the palletizer, time will be lost, and the output and efficiency of the system will be low. However, if the bundles are supplied to the palletizer at too high of a rate, jam-ups will occur. Of course, the highest possible operating speed is limited by the number of bundles which can be handled at the palletizing or loading station per unit of time. Accordingly, the supply of bundles should be regulated to supply the optimum number of bundles to the palletizer which may be efficiently handled and which will avoid jam-ups or slow-downs in the system.
Moreover, in such systems, the number of bundles per layer varies, usually with the size and configuration of the bundles. In addition, the number of layers which may be formed into a stack also varies with the size and configuration of the bundles. Therefore, the number of bundles per stack is varied in accordance with the size and configuration of the bundles and a number of other variables. When the system is handling smaller bundles, more bundles may be included in each stack so that the speed at which bundles are supplied to the system may be increased. However, if the bundles are relatively large, the number of bundles per stack will be lower so that it will be necessary to supply the bundles at a slower rate. Accordingly, considering such factors, it would be desirable to provide an arrangement whereby the rate of supply of bundles to the palletizer may be regulated or adjusted in accordance with bundle size, stack size, and various other factors. In this manner, bundles may be supplied to the system at the optimum speed in accordance with the size and configuration of the bundles to be organized and arranged into stacks.
Broadly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system and control therefor which overcomes one or more of the aforesaid problems. Specifically, it is within the contemplation of the present invention to provide a material-handling system which includes a manual or automatic control arrangement for coordinating the various functions of supplying bundles to a loading station, arranging the bundles into layers, forming the layers into stacks on pallets, strapping the stacks onto a pallet, and discharging the loaded pallet ready for shipment.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a material-handling system in which the functions are coordinated to provide a system that operates at the optimum speed and which may be varied in accordance with the size and configurations of the bundles to be stacked or "palletized".
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a material-handling system in which the rate at which bundles are supplied to a loading station is synchronized with the rate at which bundles are arranged into layers to form stacks, in order to operate the system at its maximum capacity, without jam-ups or slow-downs occurring in the system.